Susan Polis Schutz discovered early the power of the written word. Not only did she start writing a little newspaper for her hometown of Peekskill, N.Y., at age 7, but she also discovered at an early age that when important things needed to be said, it was easier to write them than say them.
She was always a little shy, she said. "I started writing little poems to share with friends and to help me better understand my own feelings."
Little did she know that would eventually propel her into a life's work that would not only earn her a livelihood but also the designation as "America's Favorite Love Poet."
Polis Schutz grew up to major in English and biology, and while doing graduate work in physiology, she met and married her husband, Steve, a physicist. She did some freelance writing, but also found more inspiration for poetry in her relationship with Steve.
"He came up with the idea of using my poetry and some of his art to make some silkscreen posters," Polis Shutz said in a telephone interview from her home in Boulder, Colo. "We took them to a local store, and much to our surprise, they sold out."
They decided to take a year off from studies to travel and live off what they could make by doing more posters. They never got back to the sciences, instead ending up with a company called Blue Mountain Arts, which publishes greeting cards, books, calendars and other items. Blue Mountain sells approximately 40 million greeting cards per year.
Polis Schutz thinks that the secret to their success is that "I write real feelings to real people. You never know what will strike a cord, but feelings themselves are universal."
For example, when her daughter was born and as she was growing up, Polis Schutz wrote a series of poems that were later published in a book called "To My Daughter With Love, on the Important Things in Life."
Recently, when her daughter went off to college, Polis Schutz updated the best-selling book. "I wanted her to know that it doesn't matter where she is, because home is where love and the heart reside."
Polis Schutz wants all the people she loves — including her husband and two sons as well as her daughter — to know they are loved. And that's the value she sees in sending cards and poems, whether they are ones you write yourself or ones that you find in stores.
Those cards and letters mean a lot.
That's one thing she loves about Valentine's Day. It's a time when people take time to share their feelings. "At least once a year, people realize they are loved and appreciated." It would be good, of course, to express your love more often, she says. "But too often we just don't take time to stop and think about emotions. We're too busy taking the kids to soccer practice and running around."
That's why she thinks Valentine's Day is not just for sweethearts, either. That's a meaningful part of it, but "it's a time for anyone you love — family, friends, anyone in your life that is important."
Love can be scary. Love can cause pain. But what it does is so much more important, she says. Or, as she put in a poem to her daughter:
Don't be afraid
to love someone
totally and completely
Love is the most fulfilling
and beautiful feeling in the world
Don't be afraid that you will
get hurt
or that the other person
won't love you as much
There is a risk in
everything you do
and the rewards
are never so great
as what love can bring
So let yourself get involved
completely and honestly
and enjoy the possibility
that what happens
might be the only real
source of happiness
At this season of love, Polis Schutz would like to emphasize another message as well — as important as the people in our lives are, they are not the only source of love: "Follow your passions. Follow your dreams."
Lean against a tree
and dream your world of dreams
Work hard at what you like to do
and try to overcome all obstacles
Laugh at your mistakes
and praise yourself for learning from them
Pick some flowers . . .
Find a rainbow
And live your
world of dreams
"That's so important," she says. And it's exactly how she got where she is today.
E-mail: carma@desnews.com